Coin-controlled vending-machine.



No. 887,203. PATENTED MAY'lz, 190s.

. w. H. LEAVEB. & o. H. SMITH.

COIN CONTROLLED VENDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAB.2.1907.

2 SHEBTB8HBET 1,

Witness m v '7* No. 887,208. PATENTED MAY 12, 1908. W. H.LEAVER & O. H. SMITH.

COIN CONTROLLED VENDING MACHINE.

APPLIOATION FILED MAILZ. 1907.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

gnve nfow THEVNORRIS PETERSICOH wAsmucmN. D. c.

UNITE STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM H. LEAVER AND CHARLES H. SMITH, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

COIN-CONTROLLED VENDING-MACHINE Application filed March 2, 1907.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, WILLIAM H. LEAVER and CHARLES H. SMITH, citizens of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Coin-Controlled Vending-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention is a coin controlled bending machine, and it is particularly adapted and intended for the sale of cards or slips. may be placed near a telephone for the purpose of vending memorandum slips which may be required by persons using the phone. It may also be used for vending souvenir or other postal cards, or envelops.

The object of the invention is to provide improved means for ejecting the card or other article; also improved means for actuating the delivery mechanism by means of a coin, or when a coin is deposited also inproved means for closing the slot when the.

machine is empty, so that a coin cannot be deposited and the device cannot be operated.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of the machine. Fig. 2 is a rear elevation with the back board removed. Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2, with the back board, however, in place. Fig. 4 is a side view with one side of the casing removed, to expose the coin operating devices. Fig. 5 is a detail in section showing the engagement of the latch for holding the slot closed when the machine is empty.

Referring specifically to the drawings, the casing of the device is indicated at 6, mounted upon a back board 7 in any suitable manner, as by hooked lugs 8 at the bottom and a spring lock 9 at the top. In the front of the casing is a slot 10 for the delivery of the card or other article and also a slot 11 for the insertion of the coin.

The cards or slips to be delivered are arranged in a pack indicated at 12 and are held between side pieces 13, a top plate 14, and follower 15 at the bottom, pressed by a spring 16. The plate 14 is inclined upwardly and forwardly and its front edge is set even with the slot 10, so that when the card next to the top plate is advanced for delivery it will be ejected through the slot, or projected far enough to be taken hold of on the outside and pulled out. As fast as the cards are delivered from the top of the pack the remain- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 12, 1908.

Serial No. 360,133.

der are raised by the follower to proper position against the top plate. Said top plate is recessed as at 17, and is slotted as at 18. The ejector consists of a flat piece of metal 19 having at its lower end a depending lip 20 which projects beyond the plate 14 a sufiicient distance to engage over the topmost card when the ejector is retracted. Said ejector plate has on its upper side a longitudinal rib 21 which slides in the groove 18 and so guides the movement of the ejector. The back board or plate 7 has ribs 22 which bear against the rear edges of the cards and so hold those cards pressed against the front plate of the casing. The top plate 14 has notches 23 to accommodate these ribs.

The ejector 1.9 is connected by a link 24 with an arm 25 projecting from a rock shaft 26 which is ournaled at one end in one side wall of the casing and at the other end in a division plate 6 which separates the delivery mechanism from the coin device of the machine and which also forms a coin box 27 at the bottom. The shaft 26 has at the end adjacent the coin mechanism an arm 28 which is pivotally connected by a link 29 to an arm 30 projecting from a short rock shaft 31 which extends through the division plate 6'" and "finds its hearings in said plate and in the adjacent side wall of the casing. T he ejector l9 is normally advanced toward the front of the casing by means of a coiled spring con nected between the front wall of the casing and the arm 25.

hen the rock shaft 3] is turned by the actuating mechanism to be hereinafter described, the rock shaft 26 is turned, by means of the connections specified, in such direction that the ejector 19 is moved backwardly or toward the rear plate of the casing, and the lip 20, when it reaches the rear edge o the pack of cards, engages over the edge of the topmost card of the pack. Then when the operating mechanism is released, the spring 32 pulls the arm 25 and advances the'ejector which carries with it the topmost card and forces the front edge thereof outthrough the slot 10, in which position it can be grasped and the card pulled out, the delivery device remaining in position for the next operation.

The mechanism which is directly actuated by the coin to produce the operation de scribed consists of a curved arm 33 which projects from the rock shaft 31, and this arm is grooved on its face, or upper side, as indicated at 34. Above the arm referred to is a disk or wheel 35, which has, cut substantially diametrically therethrough, a slot or passage indicated at 36. This slot registers with the groove 34 in the curved arm 33 and also with the coin slot 11 in the casing. The wheel or disk has on one side of the slot a peripheral stop 37 which strikes against the top of the casing to limit the turn of the disk, and has on the other side of the slot a projection 33 which is arranged to bear against or behind a coin resting edgewise in the groove 34. The disk or wheel 35 has projecting ournals on each side which find hearings in the side walls of the casing and in the partition 6*, respectively. The journal which extends through the side of the casing is provided on the outside with a hand crank 39.

When a coin is deposited in the slot 1]. it drops through the passage 36 in the disk and rests edgewise in the groove in the curved arm 33. Then by turning the crank the disk is turned, and a coin of proper size being caught above the center thereof by the edge of the slot in the disk acts as a connecting cam to force down the arm 33 and thereby turn its rock shaft and operate the delivery mechanism. At the limit of movement the coin is forced off the end of the arm 33 and drops into the cash box.

In order to close the coin slot when the machine is empty the following means are provided: The journal 40 of the disk 35, which journal projects through the partition 6*, has on its inner end a crank arm 41 which is pivotally connected to a latch 42. The latch hangs down from the crank arm and its lower end extends through an opening 42 in the top plate 14 and rests upon the topmost card of the pack 12. At the front edge of the o ening 42 is a lip 43, on which the hook of t e latch may catch.

When there are cards remaining in the pack the latch is supported or raised so that it slides back and forth on top of the cards and will not engage the lip 43. But when the last card is delivered the support for the latch is thereby removed, and it immediately drops and hooks over the lip 43. This holds the coin mechanism against movement and prevents the resetting thereof, and inasmuch as the passage 36 is then out of register with the coin slot 11 the solid edge of said disk is opposite said slot, and consequently a coin cannot be inserted through the slot. The slot thus remains closed until the machine is opened and a new supply of cards inserted. A coiled spring 44 normally returns the operating crank and disk to original position, after each operation.

We claim:

1. The combination of an article holder, of

an ejector working across the holder to deliver the articles, coin-controlled means to o erate the ejector, and a latch connected to the said means and resting on the articles in disengagement and arranged to engage a fixed part of the structure and hold said hold the disk with the coin passage out of I register with the slotwhen the holder is empty. 3. The combination of a casing having a coin slot, an article holder in the casing having a wall-with an opening therein and a lip at the edge of the opening, coin-controlled means to eject an article from the holder, including a turning disk having a coin passage which normally registers with the slot, and a latch having a pivotal connection with the disk and extending through the opening and resting, in disengagement with the lip on the articles in the holder, and adapted to engage with the lip when the last article is delivered and hold the disk against movement, with the coin passage out of register with the slot.

4. The combination with a casing having a coin slot, and article delivery devices in the casing, of a coin-controlled operating mech anism for the delivery devices, comprising a turning disk provided with means to turn the same, and having a coin passage therethrough, and a rock shaft having a projecting arm located under said passage and acting to hold a coin therein until the disk is turned.

5. The combination with a casing having a coin slot, and article delivery devices in the casing, of a coin-controlled operating mechanism for the delivery devices, comprising a rock shaft having a projecting arm grooved on the top, and a turning disk over the arm, and having a coin-passage therethrough between the arm and the slot, and a peripheral projection at one edge of the turning disk, movable over the arm and arranged to force a coin in the passage against the arm, to swing the same and rock the shaft.

In testimony whereof we aflix our signatures, in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM H. LEAVER. CHARLES H. SMITH. Witnesses NELLIE FELTsKoG, H. G. BATOHELOR. 

